City officials believe new strain of fentanyl is to blame

ZANESVILLE - There have been 19 overdoses in the city since Sunday. Four of those were fatal, and two individuals are on life support. Autopsies on those who died are pending, but it’s believed the deaths and overdoses are due to a new strain of fentanyl containing illegal street drugs that is stronger than what has been seen in the past.

Chief Tony Coury of the Zanesville Police Department said his department is actively investigating the situation, but don’t have any leads at this time as to where the drugs might be coming from. The incidents have been all over the city and not centralized to one area, he said.

He said based on one of the deaths, a search warrant was served on a residence in the 700 block of Dryden Road. Heroin, methamphetamine and a couple hand guns were found at the home. Coury said five people have been detained from the raid and formal charges are pending.

“Whatever is happening, the illegal narcotics are laced with something that is taking down a large amount of people,” Coury said. “Some of the people we’re dealing with are repeat offenders and they’ve had multiple overdoses, but for some reason in the last five days what they’re taking is killing them.”

Chief Eric Waltemire of the Zanesville Fire Department said the consistency of the drug has changed to where they are seeing something more potent.

“Those who are using the narcotic are not necessarily knowing the consistency of what they’re taking and that’s the scary factor for what we’re seeing right now,” he said.

Waltemire said a disheartening trend of the recent overdoses is that several have included someone calling 911 and then abandoning the person in distress. Waltemire said on Wednesday they responded to a man in an alley with nobody around and he knows the man didn’t make the emergency call. Waltemire can only conjecture that people are concerned about being in trouble with law enforcement and that’s why they don’t stay.

Vicki Whitacre(Photo: Submitted)

Waltemire said drug overdoses have been a major problem in the city the past two years, but nothing like what they’ve seen the past six months.

“We used to see a lot of peaks and valleys where you would have four or five overdoses in a month, now we might experience four or five overdoses in a day,” he said. “We’re going back to the same addresses repeatedly and that’s a sad fact.”

Vicki Whitacre, medical director of the Zanesville-Muskingum County Health Department, said the amount of Narcan needed to reverse these overdoses is rising, but she’s not aware of any shortages locally at this time. She said emergency crews carry four doses of Narcan on them at any one time, but some of the recent patients have needed up to 10 doses.

“We want people to be aware that what’s out there right now is something that might kill you. We would like people to go for help,” she said. “This has become a very stressful situation for our whole community.”

She said local officials are working on formulating a task force to follow up with those who suffer an overdose to get them the needed help.

“Losing a loved one this way is an awful experience for a family,” Whitacre said. “Please, encourage your loved one to seek treatment or take them to treatment even if you sort of have to drag them there.”

Local pharmacies sell Narcan and Muskingum Behavioral Health will take walk-ins for drug treatment at anytime, Whitacre said. Assistance can also be attained from calling a crisis hotline at 800-344-5818 or texting 741741.